To determine how English department chairmen perceive the role of the freshman English director, a study surveyed English department chairmen from 250 randomly selected medium/small to large universities nationwide, representing every state (with a 54% response rate). The questionnaire solicited data about the tasks and responsibilities of…

University English departments are failing because of unclear goals concerning writing programs, an entrenchment of literature in the departments, and the hiring of untrained writing teachers. Many writing positions are nontenure track, require instructors to teach four sections of freshman composition, or require a Ph.D. in some aspect of…

Misconceptions about the teaching of writing prevail on many college campuses, partially because writing teachers fail to communicate with their colleagues. It is especially important for writing teachers to let their colleagues know that learning to write is a long term developmental process that needs support and reinforcement from the entire…

The training of doctoral candidates in English often does not match the kind of teaching they must do upon taking their first jobs: namely, training is in literature, while most jobs are available in composition. Even when acceptable composition teachers are found, keeping them in the face of budgetary restraints and declining enrollments is…

The complex problems confronting English and foreign language departments involve, among other things, student enrollments, budgetary shortfalls, lessened job opportunities for graduates, increased cries for accountability, and external intrusions into intradepartmental business. One area over which we have considerable control in the preparation…

Examines reasons for university English departments' ignorance and apathy towards two-year college English departments, and ways two-year college teachers can attack them through faculty exchanges and graduate coursework. (RAE)

Presents eight "sophistical" principles for English department heads, using the historical characters of Protagoras and Gorgias as a framework for discussion. (MM)

In a response to the Minnesota Conference on the Future of Doctoral Study in English, argues that English departments should not become service departments for other academic departments. Urges the replacement of adjunct faculty members with tenure-earning assistant professor lines and claims that recognition through publication serves the…

Summarizes issues raised in speeches and group discussions at the Minnesota Conference on the Future of Doctoral Study in English and makes personal observations about the conference in general. (MM)

Describes dividing up the responsibilities of the department chairperson among senior members of the department, then reconsiders the profession and the state of the humanities. Discusses views advocating "excellence," cultural literacy, great books, and a core curriculum in the humanities. Identifies political tasks and continued…

Directs attention to crucial issues facing English teaching in Canada, among them teacher qualifications, the return to basics movement, and unqualified, tenured teachers who are reassigned to teach English from other subject areas. (CRH)

Describes the change in Duke's English department and departments in general by using historical examples that reflect then current attitudes towards the humanities and scholarship. (CRH)

Discusses several problems in the national hiring process, including candidates' (1) lack of preparation and/or interest in teaching, (2) lack of familiarity with interviewing institutions, and (3) unrealistic expectations and general ignorance of conditions in most of the country's English departments. (SR)

In recent years, traditional teacher training programs for graduate teaching assistants which value a rather narrow definition of academic work have produced a limiting path of professionalization. The problem can no longer be figured as a matter of emphasis--should more training resources be directed toward pedagogy instead of content area…

The English department at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is trying to create an environment where all voices are heard and respected, both those of the literarists and compositionists. Where it is probably more customary to think of curriculum as a reflection of faculty values, the guiding principle at LMU has been that curriculum can influence…